“I thought it sucked, big time,” he said, just minutes before he welcomed three of the Wild’s biggest stars into his Maplewood home.

Ariola got the word from the Wild ticket office on Monday that Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Mikko Koivu and Wild owner Craig Leipold would be hand-delivering his season tickets as a thank you to loyal fans.

The four men arrived right after practice and squeezed onto the couch between Jim and his brother-in-law, Rick Maki.